Agenda item

This report sets out the findings and recommendations of the Immunisation Task Group that are being presented to the Health Select Committee for approval. The Health Select Committee is recommended to endorse the Immunisation Task Group’s recommendations for them to be passed to the council’s Executive and to the NHS Brent Board for approval.

Councillor John, Chair of the Childhood Immunisation Task Group, introduced the report which set out the findings and recommendations of the Childhood Immunisation Task Group, which were being presented to the Health Select Committee for approval.  She explained that the task group had been set up because councillors in Brent had concerns over the low level of immunisations being reported by NHS Brent.  She added that as someone who had spent their professional life testing vaccinations, it was of great concern to her personally that young people in Brent were not being protected against diseases that could be prevented.   Councillor John explained that the task group were especially concerned by the reduction in the number of children receiving the MMR vaccine due to the controversy caused by the now discredited research carried out by Andrew Wakefield.  She added that there had been a number of recent cases of measles outbreaks in Brent which would not have occurred if the young children had received their MMR vaccine and booster. 

Councillor John advised that data quality was a continuing theme during the course of the review.  She added that the task group had been encouraged to learn that NHS Brent had allocated extra resources to bring its database up to date and that this had already had a positive impact on immunisation figures. Councillor John also highlighted the need for training, on the benefits of vaccinations, to be provided to all medical and non-medical staff working in frontline positions, including GP receptionists.

Councillor John stated that as well as looking at what NHS Brent was doing to improve immunisation levels, the task group had also explored how Brent Council could contribute to improving the immunisation levels.  The task group noted how the council, via children’s centres and schools had contact with the vast majority of children and parents in Brent and were therefore in a good position to assist NHS Brent in the delivery of the immunisation programme.  She advised that the task group felt that the introduction of immunisation clinics at children’s centres would be a very useful addition to existing services.   Councillor John stated that the task group had met with a number of parents to discuss their views on immunisation and that the parents had expressed a range of views which had been included in the recommendations. Councillor John thanked everyone who had taken part in the review. 

Jo Ohlson (Director of Primary Care Commissioning) circulated a paper which set out NHS Brent’s response to the task group’s recommendations.  She thanked the task group for the excellent work that they had carried out on this issue.   She advised that the data cleansing, which was currently being undertaken, would help them to focus on groups where there was low take-up.  Following a request from Jo Ohlson, it was agreed that a recommendation around working with schools to increase the uptake of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine would be added to the list of recommendations. Jo Ohslon explained that there had been an increase in the number of refusals and non-returns of consent forms and also a decrease in the number of uptakes of the 2^nd and 3^rd doses, which need to be carried out for the vaccine to be effective. 

In response to a question regarding consent for the HPV vaccine, Tony Menzies explained that a parent’s consent was not always required for girls under the age of 16, but that NHS Brent preferred to obtain this.  He added that the consent forms were given to pupils to take home to their parents/guardians and that there was a concern that some of the consent forms were not being given to the parents/guardians.  Responding to a question about whether there was literature available on the different vaccines, which would dispel the myths surrounding them, Dr Penelope Toff (Consultant in Public Health Medicine, NHS Brent) explained that there was literature available which effectively provided this information.

The Chair thanked the Task Group on behalf of the committee for the excellent work which they had carried out as part of the review.   The committee agreed to endorse all the recommendations set out in the report and the additional recommendation regarding working with schools to increase the uptake of the HPV vaccine.  Andrew Davies (Policy and Performance Officer) explained that the next step was for the task group’s recommendations to go to the council’s Executive and the NHS Brent Board for approval.

RESOLVED:-

i)             that a recommendation around working with schools to increase the uptake of the HPV vaccine be added to the Childhood Immunisation Task Group’s list of recommendations;

ii)            that the Childhood Immunisation Task Group’s recommendations be endorsed by the Health Select Committee and that the recommendations be passed to the council’s Executive and NHS Brent Board for approval.